24 HOT NEWS OF THE WORLD: 'Budget will be responsive to global crisis'

DSE turnover tops Tk 9 bn mark

Dhaka, June 30 —Turnover on the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Tuesday crossed the Tk 9 billion mark for the first time ever, as investors shrugged off a hoax bomb threat that shut trading an hour earlier than the scheduled a day before. Daily turnover touched a new high at Tk 9.42 billion on the day the parliament passed the budget for FY 2009-10, smashing the previous high of Tk 8.34 billion on June 21. This is the fourth time this month that the daily transactions have leapt to a new height. On June 4 and 11, turnover on the bourse touched Tk 6.72 billion. It soared to Tk 7.81 billion on June 7. "This is what should happen…it is a positive sign that investment rose up despite the bomb threat yesterday [Monday]," Yaweer Sayeed, CEO of an asset management firm, told bdnews24.com. Usually, the last day of the financial year witnesses increased transactions, he added. "Institutional investors contributed heavily to Tuesday's turnover as they had to trade a lot on the last day [of the fiscal year] due to portfolio balancing," added Sayeed, who heads AIMS of Bangladesh. Salahudddin Ahmed Khan, former CEO of DSE, agreed with the investment manager. "The closing day's transaction is mostly due to institutional investors' trading." The amendments to budget, including some duty cuts, also induced the hike, added Khan, a professor of finance at the University of Dhaka. "But it's really good to see that investors knocked off the terrorist threat." The Chittagong Stock Exchange also saw a higher turnover, topping the 1 billion mark. Transactions reached to Tk 1.19 billion from trading of almost seven and a half million shares. The highest ever turnover on the port city bourse was Tk 1.63 billion on June 24. The total turnover of the country's twin bourses on Tuesday reached Tk 10.61 billion, also a new record. The previous high was at Tk 9.30 billion on June 21. Authorities had halted transactions at 1:15pm and then evacuated the building on Monday after the bomb threat was made over phone by an anonymous caller that the stock building will be blown off soon. The caller said that a bomb had been kept inside the building. The, an official said . DSE senior vice-president Saiful Islam told bdnews24.com on Monday that the hoax bomb threat was was to panic the investors. He said that 'a certain quarter' was trying to upset the market, which has been seeing rises over the past few days . "Dhaka Stock Exchange is one of the biggest organisations of the country...we think the move to create panic was aimed to unstable the [entire country]," Islam said.

Monday, March 23, 2009

'Budget will be responsive to global crisis'

Dhaka, March 23 ()—The next budget is being formulated keeping the global recession and the new government's election commitments in mind, said the NBR chief on Monday. "The new government was elected to power after making some major pledges to fulfil the demands of the nation. The new budget will be formulated keeping those commitments as well as the global crisis in view," said Mohammad Abdul Mazid. The National Board of Revenue chairman was addressing a pre-budget discussion with heads of national dailies and electronic media at the NBR conference room. He said foreign aid flow was slowing down, which will necessitate tapping more internal resources in the new budget. "The next budget will expand the taxpayers' net as many people who should be paying have so far dodged tax," said the NBR boss. Explaining the shortfalls in reaching VAT and import duty targets, he said, "Global prices of most commodities, such as fuel and food grain, were on the high side when the government announced the 2008-09 budget, and began falling soon after." "Oil that was at $140 fuel now costs around $40, which is why revenue from VAT and import duty have also seen sharp cuts." Mentioning that there has been a proposal placed for introducing a separate pay scale for tax officials, he said, "I've told the pay commission that taxmen must have a separate pay scale with increased pay and allowances, as their services shouldn't be compared with those of the social welfare or any other ministry." The NBR chairman assured all present that tax officials would contribute more positively once their pay and allowances were enhanced. Daily Star editor Mahfuz Anam, Manabjamin editor Motiur Rahman Chowdhury, Financial Express editor Moazzem Hossain, Bhorer Kagoj editor Shymal Dutta, Channel i director Faridur Reza Shagar, NTV executive director Enayetur Rahman Bappi, New Nation editor Mostafa Kamal Mazumdar, Radio Today's Rafiqul Haque and others from national dailies and electronic media joined the talks.